Apple is continuing its effort to green its company, this time putting $55 million into a 100 acre, 17.5 megawatt solar farm in North Carolina.

On Monday night Claremont City signed off on a development agreement with Apple to annex land for its new solar farm, according to the Hickory Record.

This latest investment further cements the company’s commitment to fighting climate change by powering many of its facilities with renewable resources instead of coal. In April the company announced that its data centers and 120 retail centers would be powered with renewable resources. It also plans to have its new headquarters run entirely on green energy.

Still Apple’s vice president for environmental initiatives, Lisa Jackson, a former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator, has her work cut out for her. In order to combat climate change further, Apple will have to get its suppliers on board too.

Can new smart windows or windmills help cut the cost of lighting and heating? The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) hopes so.

According to the DOE, lighting and heating buildings accounts for nearly 20 percent of U.S. annual energy consumption. To combat this, the U.S. Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) has awarded $17 million to small businesses in 13 states for the development of prototype technologies ranging from wind turbine blades to “smart” windows, with each project taking a different angle at the behemoth that is energy consumption.

One of the 17 projects that received money — out of the nearly 1,000 submitted — is the development of “smart” windows by Heliotrope, the Berkeley, Calif.-based electrochromic design company profiled by VentureBeat last August.

Other projects include Amjet Turbine Systems’ development of low-cost and lightweight hydro turbines for use in creating hydroelectric power, Sheetak’s development of solid-state heat pump technology that will decrease the energy needed to heat water for buildings and homes, and Mainstream Engineering’s development of a hybrid electric turbocharger for charging electric vehicles faster.

Each project has received funding previously from EERE as part of the Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. This funding is Phase II of the SBIR program and the expectation is that prototypes will be completed within two years of the awards being distributed.

Besides the development of energy technologies, each project was also selected for potential commercial success and scalability.

Whether the ideas succeed or not, each project will bring increased innovation to the clean energy space and foster awareness of the disparate types of U.S. companies working to bring energy consumption under control.

More information:

More information:

]]>0U.S. Energy Dept. gives $17M in awards for development of clean energy technologiesIt’s time to bury the ‘clean vs. dirty’ debate in energyhttp://venturebeat.com/2013/02/06/its-time-to-bury-the-clean-vs-dirty-debate-in-energy/
http://venturebeat.com/2013/02/06/its-time-to-bury-the-clean-vs-dirty-debate-in-energy/#commentsWed, 06 Feb 2013 17:00:07 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=604507Guest:Many companies are finding that a mixture of oil and gas energy, together with solar and wind power, fit their needs -- and the energy industry is benefitting too.
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After decades of instability and uncertainty, the United States suddenly finds itself in a peculiar position: In the driver’s seat as a net-supplier of energy, potentially the world’s largest.

Driven entirely by the rapid progress of advanced energy technologies, oil and gas extraction is increasing; wind, solar and geothermal energy sources are booming; and energy efficiency is allowing us to do more and more with less energy.

For some, this is validation that the “old way” – oil and gas – are making a comeback; for others it’s about “clean” sources of energy reshaping our economy and protecting our environment.

The truth is that it’s not a zero sum game. Advancements in technology in all types of energy are leading to cleaner solutions, making the “clean vs. dirty” energy debate irrelevant to the opportunity that lies ahead. This technical synergy across the various energy markets is also leading to an accelerated transformation of the overall sector to advanced energy, which was a $1.1 trillion global market in 2011, making it larger than pharmaceutical manufacturing worldwide.

By focusing on making all forms of energy affordable, secure and clean, this technological revolution is succeeding because it provides an economic imperative that “clean” alone could never accomplish. Clean lacked the power of the invisible hand to align the incentives of the individual energy consumer with that of society’s energy needs. Advanced energy is different because it couples two important things: the ability to prosper and increase economic competitiveness while simultaneously improving the health and wellness of the United States.

Corporations embrace diverse energy sources

The retailer Kohl’s, the nation’s largest corporate solar panel owner, offers a good example of a large company that’s embraced advanced energy technologies for economic reasons. Kohl’s has made an effort to strategically diversify their energy mix, installing solar where there are strong renewable energy incentives on the books. Kohl’s has also implemented a range of energy efficiency programs, such as sophisticated lighting and energy management technologies, that deliver significant cost savings and emission reductions.

General Electric, a long time supplier to the oil and gas industry, has similarly embraced an “all of the above” strategy in its product portfolio. In addition to its traditional offerings, GE now supplies a whole range of advanced energy products and services, including wind turbines, smart grid solutions, reciprocating engines that run on biogas, and some of the world’s largest and most efficient gas turbines, not to mention Energy Star appliances and LED light bulbs.

Advanced energy is a growth industry

It’s unlikely these successful companies would have embraced advanced energy so wholeheartedly if it offered no economic benefits. Indeed, research indicates the United States as a whole is following suit:

The U.S. advanced energy market reached $132 billion in 2011, representing nearly 12 percent of the global market. This market is expected to grow to an estimated $157 billion in 2012, with the U.S. share of the global market expected to rise to 15 percent.

Patents for advanced energy related technologies granted to U.S entities in 2011 exceeded the 1,000 mark for the first time.

Wind, solar, biomass, geothermal and hydropower projects accounted for 46.2 percent of new electrical generating capacity for the first ten months of 2012, a 47.7 percent increase over the level recorded for the same period in 2011.

All this is occurring while oil and natural gas suppliers enjoy robust, and in some cases, record profits.

From a macroeconomic perspective, with global energy demand expected to grow 40 percent over the next few decades, the economic opportunity is so vast that the growth in new energy markets like solar, wind and geothermal doesn’t interfere with the ability of traditional oil and gas businesses to grow their markets. That is why you now see unlikely combinations – small, innovative start-ups working hand-in-hand with traditional legacy companies – because it ties together scale with science to create economic opportunity in all markets.

That’s also why you see industry leaders like Arno Harris, CEO of solar PV developer Recurrent Energy, arguing that “stability can be found in a portfolio of both renewables and gas [that offers] more predictable prices and greater energy security.”

Energy is not a zero-sum game anymore. So let’s end the polarizing focus on “clean vs. dirty” energy and focus on migrating to an advanced energy future. Let’s ensure that we continue to invest in technology to drive down the costs of using all of our domestic sources of energy and make them healthier for consumption.

With an advanced energy mindset, the United States can be both prosperous and healthy as a nation.

Hemant Taneja is a managing director at General Catalyst, a venture capital firm focusing on early stage and growth equity investments. In addition, Taneja co-founded Advanced Energy Economy, a business organization focused on catalyzing regional energy innovation clusters across America. The creation of AEE is modeled after the work he did in founding the New England Clean Energy Council, which received an award from the Department of Energy. He is also an entrepreneur in his own right; before joining General Catalyst in 2002, Taneja was founder and CEO of a mobile software company that was acquired. He is a graduate of MIT.

Through his company Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett has acquired two solar power plant projects from solar panel manufacturer and developer SunPower for between $2 billion and $2.5 billion.

Berkshire Hathaway’s energy subsidiary, MidAmerican Energy, has a stake in many of the largest US solar power plants, including two First Solar plants. Buffett has increasingly become an important ally for the renewable energy industry, which is struggling to survive without government financial support.

The newly acquired plants are located in California, and they are the world’s largest photovoltaic solar developments, meaning they use solar panels to convert sunlight into electricity. SunPower will retain the three-year contract to build and maintain them in the counties of Los Angeles and Kern. The Antelope Valley projects will generate 579 megawatts for Southern California Edison, which is not far off the output of a large fossil fuel power plant.

SunPower, based in Silicon Valley, will operate the projects for MidAmerican Renewables, a division of MidAmerican Energy.

“We are excited about these projects because they support our core business principle of environmental respect,” Bill Fehrman, president of MidAmerican Renewables, said in a statement. “We are very proud to add SunPower technology to our portfolio of projects.”

As The Street reports, market leaders like SunPower and First Solar are winning contracts to maintain large plants with multi-decade purchase agreements over their lifespan. By acquiring the plants, MidAmerican Energy has become one of the biggest backers of such projects.

Three years ago, Danielle Fong, a PhD student at Princeton, hit on an idea for a better way to store clean energy.

Today, her clean-tech company LightSail has earned some heavyweight support from both venture capital firms and angel investors, including Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.

The startup pulled in $37.3 million to deliver a better system to store energy generated through the wind and the sun. Holding energy for commercial use has been tricky — makeshift solutions include electrochemical batteries, mechanical devices, and liquefied air.

“Since there is little capacity to store energy, green power is sold when available, instead of at the highest price,” the company’s website explains. To simplify the problem, the founders use the example of a “hot day in Texas.” Electricity prices typically sour — but what about green power? If solar farms could store energy cheaply, they could deliver it when needed.

The method that was dreamed up by Fong, LightSail’s young co-founder (she subsequently dropped out of her PhD program, which she enrolled in at the age of 17) involves a combination of water and compressed air. The technique is known as “isothermal compression.” To test the idea, the founders built a system that stores and releases energy by compressing and expanding air in an old warehouse in Oakland.

Competitors include General Compression and SustainX, which are working on a similar technology and have pulled in government funding.

The challenge for all these companies will be to overcome investors’ reluctance to fund clean-tech startups. Return on investment (ROI) is choppy, if not a complete disaster. Many investors will point to solar company Solyndra, which raised close to $1 billion before declaring bankruptcy, as an example of what the clean tech sector can do to good money. Tax payer losses on that investment may be as high as $849 million. Last month, high-tech battery-maker A123 Systems, which under the Obama administration received almost $250 million in federal energy grants (note: it drew down $132 million of that grant), followed Solyndra into bankruptcy.

Investors include Bill Gates and Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal, as well as Khosla Ventures. The three-year-old company has raised a total of $52.3 million in funding.

]]>0Clean-tech startup LightSail pulls in $37.3M from Bill Gates, Peter ThielAutoGrid pulls in $9M to turn ‘big data’ into an energy sourcehttp://venturebeat.com/2012/10/29/autogrid/
http://venturebeat.com/2012/10/29/autogrid/#commentsTue, 30 Oct 2012 00:52:04 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=565576AutoGrid, a Bay Area-based startup founded in 2011, pulled in $9 million to develop its "big data" technology to help utilities and businesses control their energy usage.
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AutoGrid, a Bay Area-based startup founded in 2011, pulled in $9 million to further the development of its software to help utilities and businesses control their energy usage.

Its technology works by analyzing data collected by smart meters to allow operators to adjust to meet supply and demand. Its major customers include the City of Palo Alto Utilities and Sacramento Municipal Utility District, and it is reaching out to municipalities on the East Coast.

The data is collected from smart meters through sensors that are placed on the electric grid. By incorporating machine learning, which gets smarter over time, it can make predictions about energy consumption patterns inside buildings and across service regions. When enough data has been processed, it can forecast how much electricity might be needed in the coming hours or days.

“The capacity of the [smart] grid is not deployed efficiently,” said founder and chief executive, Dr. Amit Narayan (pictured, left). Smartgrids are the computer-based remote control and automation mechanisms that are used today to deliver electricity. In the past, workers had to manually gather data by reading meters and measuring voltage, and keeping an eye out for flawed equipment.

With the advent of analytics tools, we can begin to make predictions about the future and further optimize energy usage. “Up to 20 percent of the power-generating assets in some regions only get deployed ten or fewer days a year,” said Dr. Narayan.

Prior to founding AutoGrid, he taught on the topic of electronic design automation software at Berkeley and Stanford. He founded Berkeley Design Automation, which is used by more than 20 of the top 25 chip developers.

“AutoGrid is creating the brains for the smart grid. If you can analyze all of the data, you can predict what the electrical parameters of the grid will be under any situation and use that to remove inefficiencies from the electricity supply chain.” said Dan Ahn, managing director at Voyager Capital in a statement.

What’s interesting from a competitive standpoint is the company’s focus on pattern-recognition and predictive analysis. It faces competition from Enernoc, a real-time energy-management tool, and Silver Spring Networks, an energy networking supplier that is used by over 15 utilities across the U.S.

The company’s investors include Foundation Capital, Voyager Capital and Stanford University. Last year, it won a $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy program to devote to improving the product.

]]>0AutoGrid pulls in $9M to turn ‘big data’ into an energy sourceClean Power Finance connects investors, solar providers and gets $75M from Googlehttp://venturebeat.com/2011/09/27/google-75m-clean-power/
http://venturebeat.com/2011/09/27/google-75m-clean-power/#commentsTue, 27 Sep 2011 17:38:18 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=335965Gaming execs: Join 180 select leaders from King, Glu, Rovio, Unity, Facebook, and more to plan your path to global domination in 2015. GamesBeat Summit is invite-only -- apply here. Ticket prices increase on April 3rd! Search giant Google today announced it has made another large investment in a residential solar provider, this time dropping $75 million into Clean Power Finance, […]
]]>Gaming execs:Join 180 select leaders from King, Glu, Rovio, Unity, Facebook, and more to plan your path to global domination in 2015. GamesBeat Summit is invite-only -- apply here. Ticket prices increase on April 3rd!

Search giant Google today announced it has made another large investment in a residential solar provider, this time dropping $75 million into Clean Power Finance, an online service that connects solar panel installers with investors.

Clean Power Finance connects solar panel providers and installers with investors looking to drop money into residential solar providers. Those investors provide financing to home owners, who are then able to purchase or lease out solar panels at a more reasonable cost. There are some major companies that provide financing options, but Clean Power Finance could be more attractive for smaller installers that don’t have a large market share and can’t price their systems as competitively as companies like SolarCity and SunRun.

It’s a web-based interface that streamlines the connection process between installers and investors. The installer builds the photovoltaic panel system, the investor owns that system, and homeowners make monthly payments to the investor until they completely own it.

Google made the announcement at the Renewable Energy Finance Forum in San Francisco, Calif., today. This is the company’s second investment in a residential solar provider. The search giant recently created a $280 million fund for residential solar power projects run by SolarCity. The fund gives SolarCity the capital it needs to create more reasonable financing options for homeowners who are interested in installing solar panels on their roofs but don’t have the cash to buy panels outright.

So far, Google has skirted around tying up with SunRun, another large provider of residential solar panels. SunRun has a market share of around 28 percent, though it fluctuates between 26 and 28 percent depending on the month, SunRun founder Ed Fenster told VentureBeat. That means that 28 of every 100 homes installing solar panels on their roofs are leasing panels from SunRun.

SolarCity leases residential solar panels for a 15-year period, handling all the maintenance during the life of the lease. The electricity generated by the panels powers homes directly, taking some load off the electric grid. The company works in the “distributed solar” space, which is designed to help reduce some of the strain on power grids during peak usage hours when homes are drawing more electricity for air conditioning or, in the future, electric car charging.

SolarCity is currently the second-largest provider of residential solar panels behind SunRun. SolarCity has a market share of around 14 percent of the leasable solar panel market, while SunRun has a market share of around 28 percent.

A study done by the University of California at Berkeley found that home values increase when solar panels are installed. The study found that homes with solar panels sold for an extra $5.50 per watt of solar power installed, for an average of $17,000 more per house. That goes against a lot of not-in-my-backyard arguments that have been plaguing clean energy providers because some homeowners see solar panels and wind turbines as an eyesore.

]]>0SolarCity raises $14M of $42M round for home solar panelsFlexible solar panel maker SoloPower raises $15M of $44M roundhttp://venturebeat.com/2011/06/29/solopower-funding-series-e-extension/
http://venturebeat.com/2011/06/29/solopower-funding-series-e-extension/#commentsWed, 29 Jun 2011 17:02:51 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=304655Flexible solar panel manufacturer SoloPower has raised $15 million of a targeted $43.8 million fifth round of funding, according to a new filing with the securities and exchange commission. SoloPower manufactures photovoltaic cells, which capture sunlight and convert it to electricity on a flexible surface that can be bent and placed just about anywhere. They’re […]
]]>Flexible solar panel manufacturer SoloPower has raised $15 million of a targeted $43.8 million fifth round of funding, according to a new filing with the securities and exchange commission.

SoloPower manufactures photovoltaic cells, which capture sunlight and convert it to electricity on a flexible surface that can be bent and placed just about anywhere. They’re called thin-film solar panels, but they are typically less efficient at capturing sunlight and converting it to electricity than hard wafer-style photovoltaic cells. Thin-film solar panels are usually able to convert about 15 to 20 percent of the light shining on the panel into energy.

The company filed a form with the SEC that indicated it has raised $13.5 million but only planned to raise around $20 million in March. The new filing indicates a much higher target for fundraising in its fifth round of funding.

Aggressive spending and expansion in clean technology would generate 1.1 million new jobs by 2030 and reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 13 percent, according to a new report by Google. If the U.S. employs more federal mandates and provides funding for clean technology projects, those projects will generate 1.9 million jobs and reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 21 percent, the report states.

By 2050, U.S. greenhouse gas emissions would be cut by 55 percent without federal mandates and funding for clean technology projects. The U.S. will cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 63 percent if the government introduces aggressive clean technology policies.

Google’s report focuses on two ways to increase the funding for clean technology projects. The first is a model in which the U.S. government aggressively expands its clean technology policies and increases the amount of nuclear power deployed. That model also assumes that there are additional carbon-capture projects deployed in the U.S.

The second model, which would have less of an impact than government intervention, involves taxing carbon emissions at $30 per ton. That would bring up the cost of power produced by plants that use coal, natural gas and other types of fossil fuels. It would bring the cost of electricity and power from those plants to something comparable with renewable energy sources like wind power and solar power.

With government intervention, clean technology spending would increase the United States’ GDP by around $244 billion per year and reduce household costs by $995 annually. With carbon taxes, the United States’ GDP would increase by $155 billion per year and U.S. consumers would save $942 annually.

Google has thus far invested $780 million in clean energy projects, $700 million this year alone. Google’s clean energy investments don’t come out of the company’s traditional investment arm, Google Ventures. Instead, the money comes from the company’s main treasury and is invested by the company’s Green Business Operations team. Google typically makes financial investments in clean energy projects that will generate some kind of return, but it has also made investments that have resulted in power purchase agreements — meaning Google uses the renewable energy to power its own data centers.

]]>0Google report suggests huge payout for clean technology expansionAlabama nuclear plant outlasts natural disasterhttp://venturebeat.com/2011/04/28/alabama-nuclear-plant-safe/
http://venturebeat.com/2011/04/28/alabama-nuclear-plant-safe/#commentsThu, 28 Apr 2011 19:01:56 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=256942An Alabama-based nuclear power plant with similar specifications to the Fukushima Daiichi plant that was ravaged by an earthquake in Japan outlasted catastrophic weather in the southeast and has shut down without incident. Diesel engines, the second line of defense in a long line of safety precautions at the Brown’s Ferry plant, were not disabled […]
]]>An Alabama-based nuclear power plant with similar specifications to the Fukushima Daiichi plant that was ravaged by an earthquake in Japan outlasted catastrophic weather in the southeast and has shut down without incident.

Diesel engines, the second line of defense in a long line of safety precautions at the Brown’s Ferry plant, were not disabled by the severe weather. The reactors kicked in and provided emergency power to the plant after its main power lines were cut.

The situation at the Browns Ferry plant illustrates the effectiveness of standard nuclear safety features in severe weather. Most nuclear reactors will never face the tragic combination of circumstances that struck Fukushima.

]]>1Alabama nuclear plant outlasts natural disasterGoogle drops $168M in California solar power towerhttp://venturebeat.com/2011/04/11/google-solar-power-tower/
http://venturebeat.com/2011/04/11/google-solar-power-tower/#commentsMon, 11 Apr 2011 23:12:30 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=253702Google has invested $168 million into a solar power energy project led by BrightSource Energy in the Mojave desert in California, the search giant announced today. The new project doesn’t rely on photovoltaic cells that capture sunlight and convert it electricity. Instead, if uses a large array of mirrors that focus sunlight onto a single […]
]]>Google has invested $168 million into a solar power energy project led by BrightSource Energy in the Mojave desert in California, the search giant announced today.

The new project doesn’t rely on photovoltaic cells that capture sunlight and convert it electricity. Instead, if uses a large array of mirrors that focus sunlight onto a single point on a tower. The heat from the focused sunlight is used to boil water, creating steam that moves conventional turbines to generate electricity. (The idea is reminiscent of the Archimedes Death Ray, an oft-used trope in popular culture.)

]]>12Google drops $168M in California solar power towerGiving clean energy an American makeoverhttp://venturebeat.com/2011/01/27/giving-clean-energy-an-american-makeover/
http://venturebeat.com/2011/01/27/giving-clean-energy-an-american-makeover/#commentsThu, 27 Jan 2011 19:41:03 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=239921In American politics, energy and the environment are rocky issues. So when President Obama called this week for the U.S. to run on 80 percent clean energy by 2035, he couched it in terms that this capitalistic, economically anxious nation know best: Money and jobs. In a press call yesterday, Energy Secretary Steven Chu reiterated […]
]]>In American politics, energy and the environment are rocky issues. So when President Obama called this week for the U.S. to run on 80 percent clean energy by 2035, he couched it in terms that this capitalistic, economically anxious nation know best: Money and jobs.

In a press call yesterday, Energy Secretary Steven Chu reiterated Obama’s message, giving sign of how the administration will position the president’s clean energy plans politically.

Obama’s plan entails eliminating oil subsidies, a measure that has failed in the past. Major energy legislation has also struggled, but Chu pushed for a uniting theme that sidestepped the skepticism on global warming and environmental impact.

“This is the future of our economic prosperity… the driving reason can be any reason you choose,” Chu said, pointing to jobs, making money, saving money and saving the environment as a few of many motivators.

The repositioning of alternative energy also touched on a keystone of American anxiety about competing globally as countries like China rise (and are investing in major ways in cleantech).

“Around the world, countries are moving aggressively to lead the clean energy race,” Chu said. “We cannot take leadership and innovation for granted. This is a race.”

If the rebranding of clean energy as wealth and jobs creation goes off successfully, it could help push forward political support on measures that have been difficult to pass. Of course, execution is everything, but the state of the union speech has repositioned energy legislation into a more hopeful place than it was before.

]]>2Giving clean energy an American makeoverCiara’s top posts of 2010http://venturebeat.com/2010/12/23/ciaras-top-posts-of-2010/
http://venturebeat.com/2010/12/23/ciaras-top-posts-of-2010/#commentsThu, 23 Dec 2010 13:37:09 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=233422Tech journalism, and tech companies, for me have always been about ideas and their ability to change the world. What matters is not only the strength of the light you can shed on a subject but what you choose to illuminate. For me, technology should either be delightful or do something important or both. Here […]
]]>Tech journalism, and tech companies, for me have always been about ideas and their ability to change the world. What matters is not only the strength of the light you can shed on a subject but what you choose to illuminate. For me, technology should either be delightful or do something important or both. Here are the articles I loved writing in 2010:

]]>0Ciara’s top posts of 2010Facebook heads back east with a relatively green data center in North Carolinahttp://venturebeat.com/2010/11/11/facebook-heads-back-east-with-a-relatively-green-data-center-in-north-carolina/
http://venturebeat.com/2010/11/11/facebook-heads-back-east-with-a-relatively-green-data-center-in-north-carolina/#commentsThu, 11 Nov 2010 23:06:00 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=226347Social networking titan Facebook is investing around $450 million to open a second standalone data center out in the evergreen hills of Forest City, North Carolina, the company announced today. The data center should take around 18 months to build and will generate 250 jobs during the construction process. Facebook will then hire between 35 […]
]]>Social networking titan Facebook is investing around $450 million to open a second standalone data center out in the evergreen hills of Forest City, North Carolina, the company announced today.

The data center should take around 18 months to build and will generate 250 jobs during the construction process. Facebook will then hire between 35 and 45 people to run the beast. Facebook will get around $17 million in tax breaks as a result, according to a report by the New York Times.

Facebook’s new data center will also have to meet some pretty strict environmental standards that North Carolina imposes on its residing corporations. That means it will have to meet a number of energy efficiency and cooling standards to keep the facility moving along. About 40 percent of the data center’s energy will be nuclear powered, according to reports.

Granted, just about any state would kill to have a data center run by Facebook — including Oregon, which is allowing Facebook to run an upcoming data center in that state with coal power rather than cleaner energy sources. The Prineville, Ore.-based data center will cost only half of the upcoming data center, valued at $200 million. Only time will tell if Facebook is able to meet the energy standards that the state government has requested.

Facebook’s is the second major data center the Tar Heel state has managed to snag in the past year. Just last year, governor Bev Perdue and company were able to negotiate their way to bringing a $1 billion Apple data center to the state that’s scheduled to open in the near future.

]]>2Facebook heads back east with a relatively green data center in North CarolinaOn the GreenBeat: Saudi Arabia imports SolFocus’s solar, Prop 23 could send VC investment to Chinahttp://venturebeat.com/2010/10/28/on-the-greenbeat-saudi-arabia-imports-solfocuss-solar-prop-23-could-send-vc-investment-to-china/
http://venturebeat.com/2010/10/28/on-the-greenbeat-saudi-arabia-imports-solfocuss-solar-prop-23-could-send-vc-investment-to-china/#commentsThu, 28 Oct 2010 16:21:25 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=223369Here are the top cleantech stories we’re following today on the GreenBeat: SolFocus announced it will build the first and largest concentrated photovoltaic solar system in Saudi Arabia, delivering around 300 megawatt-hours of energy. Japanese thin-film solar company Solar Frontier will also provide 10 megawatts in a solar installation for a car park, Greentech Media […]
]]>Here are the top cleantech stories we’re following today on the GreenBeat:

SolFocus announced it will build the first and largest concentrated photovoltaic solar system in Saudi Arabia, delivering around 300 megawatt-hours of energy. Japanese thin-film solar company Solar Frontier will also provide 10 megawatts in a solar installation for a car park, Greentech Media writes.

Better Place announced it is bringing 61 electric taxis and four of its signature battery-swapping stations to San Francisco. The $6.9 million project will last three years and is funded by the Department of Transportation. Better Place previously piloted a similar electric taxi project in Tokyo.

Biofuels company Codexis is on pace to earn almost $100 million in sales this year, Xconomy writes.

By 2020, the algal fuel industry is forecasted to produce only 61 million gallons a year, or $1.3 billion of market value, according to Pike Research (via Earth2Tech).

Are you a green executive or entrepreneur? If so, sign up now for GreenBeat 2010 — the year’s seminal conference on the smart grid — November 3-4 at Stanford University. World leaders in smart grid initiatives will debate how the new “Super Grid” is creating huge opportunities in cars, energy storage, and renewables. GreenBeat 2010 is hosted by VentureBeat and SSE Labs of Stanford University.Go here for full conference details and to apply for the 2010 Innovation Competition.

]]>0On the GreenBeat: Saudi Arabia imports SolFocus’s solar, Prop 23 could send VC investment to ChinaCan clean energy companies close India’s energy gap?http://venturebeat.com/2010/09/29/can-clean-energy-companies-close-indias-energy-gap/
http://venturebeat.com/2010/09/29/can-clean-energy-companies-close-indias-energy-gap/#commentsWed, 29 Sep 2010 14:59:15 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=216771A new report from the World Resources Institute and partners claims that the market for clean energy products among India’s rural poor is potentially worth $2.11 billion per year. $2.04 billion of this market is for decentralized renewable energy such as that produced by biomass kilns or small-scale hydro-electricity plants. The clean energy enterprises surveyed in the […]
]]>A new report from the World Resources Institute and partners claims that the market for clean energy products among India’s rural poor is potentially worth $2.11 billion per year. $2.04 billion of this market is for decentralized renewable energy such as that produced by biomass kilns or small-scale hydro-electricity plants. The clean energy enterprises surveyed in the report have also seen annual gross revenue grow by an average of 36 percent per year since 2004.

India has one of the fastest growing economies in world, due to expand by 8 percent in 2010, and its energy demands will more than double by 2030. At the same time 400 million people in the country have no access to electricity. The result is a severe energy shortage, in particular in rural areas.

The report concentrates on India’s BoP (Bottom of the pyramid) population which consists of households who spend less than $75 a month on goods and services but make up 60 percent of the population, higher in rural areas. BoP households spend approximately $4.8 billion per year on energy, mainly on fuels like firewood, kerosene and dung which are harmful to health and the environment. Studies have found that indoor air pollution from these fuels contributes to 4-6 percent of all disease-related deaths in India.

Decentralized renewable energy (DREs) resources are mainly small hydro-electric and biomass projects where the electricity is distributed using company-owned mini grids (a local grid based on energy resources available in a specific area) or undersupplied existing grids. Biomass gasifiers produce electricity from wood chips or crop residues. Their generating capacity is in the range of 25kW to 100kW which can supply a village of 500-1200 households. The cost is generally 8-12 Indian rupees per kilowatt which makes prices comparable to diesel generator-based electricity.

Small-scale hydro plants built along mountain streams are even cheaper, at 2-2.5 Indian rupees per kilowatt, and they produce more energy. Plants generate from 100-1000 kW. However, the upfront construction cost of 50 million rupees ($820,000) up is massive in comparison to biogas and hydro power is not suitable for all areas.

One interesting point is that the success of DREs relies heavily on being able to predict demand efficiently. Demand estimation and demand response are crucial to the integration of renewables into the utility grid and will be one of the major issues for smart grid vendors. Could India and similar countries be a secondary market for tech startups targeting the smart grid?

Other technologies covered in the report were solar energy systems for individual households, solar lanterns and energy-efficient cooking stoves, all of which have a much smaller current market than DREs, but which is expected to grow considerably in the future.